Does Your School Need More Money?

Take a moment to scan the photographs in the article linked below. How do these schools compare with yours? Does your school building feel safe, clean and welcoming? Do you have the resources you need to learn?

Broken laptops, books held together with duct tape, an art teacher who makes watercolors by soaking old markers.

Teacher protests have spread rapidly from West Virginia to Oklahoma, Kentucky and Arizona in recent months. We invited America’s public school educators to show us the conditions that a decade of budget cuts has wrought in their schools.

We heard from 4,200 teachers. Here is a selection of the submissions, condensed and edited for clarity.

Rio Rico, Ariz.

Michelle Gibbar, teacher at Rio Rico High School

Salary: $43,000 for 20 years of experience

Annual out-of-pocket expenses: $500+

I have 148 students this year. The district skipped textbook adoption for the high school English department, leaving us with 10-year-old class sets, and we do not have enough for students to take them home. Our students deserve better. Our nation deserves better.

As I near retirement age, I realize I will retire at the poverty level. The antiquated myth of the noble, yet poor, teacher must go. I am passionate about my subject and my students. I am not passionate about living paycheck to paycheck.

Tempe, Ariz.

Jose Coca, teacher at Kyrene Middle School

Salary: $46,000 with 12 years of experience

Annual out-of-pocket expenses: $1,000

The building smells old and dank. There are holes in the ceiling, skylights don’t work, the walls need to be painted, I still use a chalk board, but — more important — my students need new desks and computers.

I can’t speak for other school districts, but mine — in Tempe — can’t get new social studies books for students. Young teachers spend more out of their own pockets because they don’t have supplies stockpiled.

My pay is not keeping up with inflation. I have co-workers leaving midyear, or not renewing their contracts, and I work with a lot of older teachers that have maybe five more years in them. I also work with some who retire and return as workers for a private staffing company.

Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:

— What thoughts and feelings came up as you read about the conditions of schools around the country? What questions did this article raise for you?

— What is your opinion on teacher salaries? Should teachers make more or less money, or are they already paid fairly? Were you surprised to find out how much they spend on their classrooms from their own pockets?

— Do you think state and local governments should prioritize spending on education? Why or why not?

— Does your school need more money? If your school was given a bigger budget, what do you think it should spend the money on and why?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.